


Belated

by EsculentEvil



Series: EsculentEvil's BatJokes Shots [33]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Anniversary, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Golden Age, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Makeup, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 22:30:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17031159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsculentEvil/pseuds/EsculentEvil
Summary: Inspired by the facts that—according toDC’s calendarshared by@a--g--t—October 13th is "Batman and Robin's first clash with The Joker" and Batsy is pretty bad at celebrating things.Originally posted to my Tumblr @esculentevil





	Belated

“You’re the worst; you know that, right?”

Batman freezes in his trek towards the lone figure on Wayne Tower’s rooftop.

“I even gave you the whole twenty-four hours,” Joker continues, unmoving.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted from me,” the Bat finally admits.

* * *

 

Gotham’s Clown Prince finally turns to frown at him, “Seriously?”

Batman nods slowly. His approach is even slower. “Yes.”

Joker sighs exasperatedly, “A gift? A party? A  **no _t_ e**?”

The vigilante shifts uncomfortably. He’s out of his depth and they both know it, “That’s usually  **your**  thing.”

Despite knowing how unaccustomed his partner is to celebrating with him, Batman’s clown still throws his arms up in frustration, “So you can’t do it, too?!”

The bat-themed hero shrinks back as though struck; but he keeps on moving forward. When he’s beside the colorful villain, he realizes just how upset he is: the multiple layers of reapplied lipstick mean that he’s actually been waiting all night and day for Batman to show up a lot sooner than he actually did; it also means he’s been biting and worrying his lip—scraping off the waxy substance—during all of that waiting, probably debating whether or not he should throw a fit; the mussed hair also means that, at some point, Joker actually gave up any pretense of looking as good and pretty as he usually does for their meetings.

Bruce wonders if Joker actually lost all hope that he’d even show up.

( _Yet he’s still here..._ )

* * *

 

“I’m sorry.”

Joker stares as Batman’s voice—unusually soft—tries to make things alright.

“I’m so used to you wanting to celebrate everything that I forget how much it would probably mean to you if I wanted to celebrating things, too—and I do! Really, I do. I just... You’re better at these things and I’d rather just...”

As Batman tries to find the words he needs, Joker gapes at him openly.

* * *

 

“Are you...?”

Gotham’s hero pauses and looks up, loosing all hope of gathering his thoughts. His eyes blow wide under his cowl’s lenses as Joker’s own glow brightly at him.

“Saying...”

Batman stands very still as his suddenly overjoyed villain approaches him. There’s no reason for this as Joker’s not in one of his rare, skittish moods but...

“You  **trust**  me?”

Bruce thinks it’s better to be safe than ruin this moment, “... yes.”


End file.
